Month: January 2017

Enjoy time with Family & Friends: Quality not quantity but making time to keep up the relationships in my life is important to me.

Highlights of this year definitely include a holiday to Niagara Falls with Dad, resuming a close relationship with my sister in the wake of her marriage break-up, and spending time at Christmas and New Year with both.

Niagara Falls was great. It was a hectic but lovely week. The Falls themselves are breath-taking. The moment when we were on the boat and stood beneath them, water falling all around us, spray everywhere, the sound of thunder in our ears…there is nothing like nature to really gain perspective of our place in the universe.

It was a tough beginning to the year when my sister decided to leave her relationship and begin anew. It was good to be able to provide her with a shoulder and a safe place to turn. It was sad to say goodbye to her partner who has been a part of the family for so long. In some ways the nature of the split lessens that as undoubtedly I’m biased to my sister’s point of view, but still the ending of something is always sad. It’s been nice though to welcome my sister’s new love interest and be supportive of their relationship.

So, it was nice to end this year with time with family.

On the friends front, I still enjoy weekends with my best friend, with our mutual Uni friend; still managed a lunch with an old school friend and to meet up for dinner with my old work friend. However, admittedly friendship time has been sacrificed because of my health once more so that’s something to improve on next year.

Be creative: Spend time on my writing projects

On the positive side, I was able to finally finish the epic Harry Potter fanfiction I was writing. It ended up being a colossal 800,000+ words. Eep! No wonder I’ve barely been able to write anything else in the interim.

I also managed to write a 60,000+ word fanfiction novella for a challenge back in November. It proved that I can if I put my mind to it write a good story in a short space of time – and helped cement my ability to write original characters (even if they were surrounding a canon Stargate character). Of course, I managed to do this while I was off sick from work so…I need to find a way to do this and work.

The other two projects I wanted to work on – finishing off a second part to a previous fanfiction, and resuming my Aftershocks series did not progress as planned. But I am hopeful to make headway in the New Year.

Think long term: Make a step towards my future and don’t just focus on paying the bills today

This goal I think went really nowhere this year bar a couple of applications to Universities which were not successful. I need to put some time and energy into this next year.

What I think this year has shown me workwise is that I have no long term future with the place I currently work at. It’s a great organisation; good people; very supportive of my health issues but…I cannot see a future for me there – not long term.

Improve my health: Better diet, more exercise and keep on with the positive thinking

This did not go well. I’ve struggled health-wise and continue as we close the year to struggle.

A large part of that can be put down to the fact that I think I’m in perimenopause and pretty much getting hit with every single negative symptom from hot flushes to dizziness, from increased severe headaches to poor sleep, from mood swings to cramping. And what I have only just realised in the last few months is the impact this condition is having on my chronic conditions; poor sleep and headaches increase my fatigue while mood swings trigger my fibromyalgia. Joy. I’m only just learning patterns and need to get a better grip on managing the perimenopause before it floors me completely. My mum once told me when Nana went through an early menopause Nana took to her bed for 3 years; quite honestly I wish I could.

Some of it though can be put down to my own continuing poor habits; too much work, exercise-shyness, not going to sleep in a regular way, and sliding into poor eating when I’m tired. There are things I can do to improve my health despite my chronic conditions.

Spend quality time with family and friends; make time and make sure I have energy to keep my promises and spend the time with people!

Decide what I really want in the work part of my life and make it happen; really determine my future work, plan for it and start to work the plan.

Write what makes me happy; I love writing and I just need to write what makes me happy and stop obsessing over unfinished projects or worrying I’m never going to get that original fiction written and published.